“Self-praise is no praise” - Winston Churchill

Bob Seger has a lot of charisma during his shows. never been disappointed at a seger concert.

I must say I saw John "Cougar" in the early '80s opening up for Heart. After only hearing his radio AirPlay I wasn't expecting much, but when the lights went out in the Coliseum and only the drummer took the stage playing the beat and the musicians came in one by one and the song they did was Humble Pies 30 days in the hole.... I was blown away! Prior to that having been a huge Springsteen and the E Street Band fan I always give credit to John Mellencamp for what he has done... quite the similar Vibe between the two and stories of growing up... rocking and rollin', girls and all that goes with that...👍

His hair reminds me of There's something about Mary jism hair gell scene.

I saw him in Nashville in 1980 something. He and his whole band were in tuxedos...I think it was a show of respect because they were playing the Opry.

Legend in his own mind🎈🤣

That hair deserves a name of its own!

I ain't seen John Cougar Mellencamp since Paper & Fire. Its good to see him after all these years. Oooohhh, ye life goes on, long after the thrill of living is gone. Rock On!

I appreciate his honesty. He’s not slick he tells it as he sees it. He was about as big as it gets in the 80s when he started out.

Saw John in concert years ago! He was awesome! Did all of his hits the first half of the concert and then did great oldies the second half! One of the best concerts ever!

I love a lot of his songs

Two of the best American songwriters ever.

Love that 2 great guys have made a great friendship!

Love your music. What a talent you are.

'Enjoyed the talk. There's only so many empty pages left, indeed. 💜

Springsteen, Segar, and Mellencamp. All great songwriters that tell about the lives and struggles of the blue collar/common American man.

Hi John . Met you in Dallas while taking photos freelance for Paul Lucks for St. Louis Missouri. Jack and Diane album was being promoted and your show was amazing. You were by yourself at the party wearing a blue Oxford shirt and jeans . The show was amazing. God Bless.

Those are the 2 best concerts I've ever attended--Springsteen (w/ ESB) & Mellencamp. Over-the-top energy.

Someone should get John a dvd of Hendrix plays Monterey!

Great interview - no interruptions. Rare these days.

Huge fan! Love "Small town"

Glad he thinks so. I don't dislike him or his music, but c'mon. I've seen Bruce dozens of times and he's always amazing. I saw John once in Boulder in 1982 opening for The Who and he was booed off the stage. Yes, it was early in his career. He blames equipment problems, but he had the opportunity to sound check. He didn't handle it well, told the crowd to F off. His perception of the situation was probably worse than reality. A third of the crowd was actually booing, and another third were yelling to bring on The Who. From the stage it may have all sounded the same. I'm sure he matured and put on a great show as his career evolved, but there are a ton of phenomenal musicians that may like to weigh in on this claim.

That's right John , 👍 been to alot of his shows but Market Square Lonesome jubilee tour chic did a back flip and landed on his shoulders , incredible performance and sound , I feel lucky to have been there ,, Thanks for sharing

Always loved John Mellencamp, and Springsteen was like a God to me. I love hearing these stories like this, where two of my favorites connect.

Seen Johnny at the Gardens in TO back on his Lonesome Jubilee tour back in 87' or 88' can't remember the exact year, what a powerful performance he gave that night... one of the best concerts I have ever been to. I missed Bruce's 4th of July tour date in TO a few years before because I chose to fill in for someone at work... big mistake, I regret that one still! Damn! Mellencamp was always one of my fav's.

Two legends❤️🙏

The first time I saw Mellencamp he opened for Heart. Played a tremendous set with continuous audience requests for encores. He finally came out and played You Can’t Always Get What You Want by the Stones. Lol I love Heart but they paled in comparison that night. He was a tough act to follow

I saw John's show in Portland back in the day, and he's right!

LOVE! You! ☆JOHN☆!!! YOUR FAN'S!# ●SMALL Town!

I saw JCM in 2012 and loved him! Saw him again in 2018 ish and was very disappointed, he played at most an hour and a half and it seemed like he would have rather been anywhere else. Having been a fan of him for so many years, and having such a great experience in 2012, it really bummed me that last time and I wish I hadn’t of gone to that concert because now it’s hard to enjoy his music.

I had a friend that past away 5his past Summer that went to Indiana to try out for John as his base player. He had the chance to take the job but thought it over and came back to Wisconsin back to his normal job. I found out about this about 10 years ago when he confessed if only he had known John would have the success he had back then he might have taken it. Just an example of what can happen if you don’t step outside the fire. Always liked both John’s good people.

Totally Agree ,Seeger was Awsome in Concert!

Mellencamp you have no comparison to Peter Wolf of J. Geils

It's funny whenever I listen to the Boss or Mellencamp I always ask myself which one I like better: the answer is always invariably - both equally!.LOL.

I saw John Fogerty and John Mellencamp was with him as well. PNC Arts Center, Holmdel NJ..... At that time John M suffered stage fright

What happened to your bestie Billy Joel? You know the guy who did your Rock n Roll HOF induction speech

Saw him in the late 90's in Boulder at a small venue, private show for Sony. He has had several heart attacks, smoked several packs a day.....got into the mile high area and almost passed out cold, couldnt breathe for awhile. He hung way back on stage bending over catching his breath and amazingly came back on! His wife was standing next to me out in the crowd.

met him in. the early 90's, John is still smoking!

You've aged well JCM!!!!!

Check that ! I make a fool out of myself daily I don’t give a shit! John all the love in the world bro!

john mellencamp isnt good enough to clean Springsteens toilet. such is the explosive mind blowing charisma, stage presence, and ferocity of a performer that Springsteen is, not to forget what a phenomenal writer he is too.

I was there when John got hit with a glass whiskey bottle that knocked him down (Arizona). Credit to John for coming back out and finishing the set.

Saw Mellencamp on my 50th BD , One of Best Shows Ever ,I’m now 65

I did some painting at his house back in 2006, and he kindly let me play a couple songs for him and his then-wife Elaine, sitting pretty much exactly where he's sitting for this interview. He even let me use his old Martin guitar. Nice guy. Says "fuck" a lot.

Love John’s talent, his ego not so much. 🇺🇸

Little Richard had Pat Boone, the Beatles had the Monkees, …and Bruce has this guy.

Overconfidence is mortal man’s chiefest enemy

John said he used to hang out down on the corner and chat with locals.

OMG, are you kidding me? I always thought he was so low key and humble. Guess I was wrong about the humble part.

Giving up the cigarettes would be a start John 😉

Seen John & Bruce do concerts in Australia , pretty amazing shows but Jimmy Barnes from Cold Chisel , singing Bow River or even doing Wild Thing is energy overload compared.

John Cougar Mellonballs knows a lot of musicians. Remember that duet he did with GG Allin?

I knew and liked John Cougar before I ever heard of Bruce Springsteen. I had unknowingly heard Springsteen songs sung by other artists but did not know of him. I still prefer John "Cougar" Mellencamp.

Nice hair, John!

Why is John still smoking? I thought he has had bad health over the past years.

got a chance to see Mellencamp in the front row and he was bored to death. he made sure we all knew that was going to play the songs we wanted to hear, but was not going to enjoy it. it is a shame that he does not embrace the songs that we love and that made him a millionaire

John please put down the cigs bro 💙

A new twist on the combover.

I saw him open for the Kinks as Johnny Cougar in 1979 and he was nothin' special.

John CougarMellanhead. Don't get me started

Brought to you by Ocean Spray: Crave the Wave.

Anyone who thinks Melencamp is not a legend has no credibility in this comment section. The man controls audiences since his first talk show performance, no off handed comment can take that away.

It's a miracle that he doesn't have cancer (yet). The amount of cigarettes he smokes per day is the stuff of legends (4+ packs/day). it will get him sooner or later.

Formula rock.Focused on sounding cool. He did this well, but many on stage had as much, or more presence. Quite the egotist. Still, I enjoyed his music.

In 1975 I saw Mellencamp, then an unknown, opening for the Allman Brothers in Cincinnati. The crowd literally booed him off the stage. I felt sorry for him at the time. He must have improved his live act dramatically.

Went to a Mellencamp concert and he sat on a chair singing because he was winded from smoking ,was very disappointed.been to many of his concerts and was never disappointed

I saw him in the 80’s and he spent a lot of time talking about farmers

Wow?..

Let others praise you. -my Mom

I’m a fan of Mellencamp. But, pull up some early Springsteen and the E Street Band concerts. No comparison.

I saw Mellencamp in the early 2000's and he was awful. "Mailing it in" is an understatement. One of the worst shows I've ever seen (and I saw 100s of shows over the yrs.) John Fogerty opened for him and blew him away. His ego here is astounding!

Dream on.

He's right...except for the hundreds that came before and after him that are sooo much better!

He chooses cigarettes over Meg Ryan. Over a lot of things. A friend of mine once told as he was taking a long drag on a cigarette, "this is love". He meant he had a "love" relationship with his cigarettes.

Who does his hair 💈 😱

I've always thought Mellencamp and Springsteen shared a certain common ethos in the themes of their songs. One key difference, of course, was that the former was a Hoosier while the latter a Jersey boy.

One of the worst shows you can ever experience is John doing a private Corporate gig in Vegas, which he did for our Company---oh how special we all thought we were, until that guy took the stage, took a break every second song to sit at the side of the stage and smoke cigarettes, than come back out and do his hits like they were a 78rpm record---phoning them all in quickly--then exited the stage, jumped back on his private jet and back to Indiana he goes with a fat check in his pocket. Seen him at Farm Aid too---still doesnt get into it...I think he wants ua all to now embrace his recently discovered, backwoods, scratchy, fiddle and jug kinda hillbilly music, which he likes, but we dont...and aint no money in those songs, no corporate gigs for sure. Dont like either his two sons were raised as bullies and beat up an innocent helpless guy they mistook for someone who dissed one of the other brothers---both should have been imprisoned but the Mellencamp name in Bloomington will get you out of anything---dont buy his peace and love shtick---Even Stephen King the author pulled out of a Play they were working on when his sons bullied that poor defenseless boy. I suspect he's Napoleonic--short and out to prove himself all the time...wish he'd get back into it.

LOL!

Smoking’s bad, umkay?

I’ll never understand how people tolerate Bruce Springsteen

Sorry John, that's a sad wild boast, much like an ex-athlete ("The older I get the better I was" 😅). Completely exalts himself over the likes of Van Halen, U2, Bon Jovi, the re-united Aerosmith, Foreigner, AC-DC, Journey, Styx, Sammy Hagar (solo), the Who, the Rolling Stones "Tattoo You" tour, Bob Seger, Billy Joel, Tom Petty, ZZ top et al

Two heart attack’s and he’s still smoking. He is just a weird dude now.

Glad he's never been full of himself

Prince..,.Prince.....Prince, Wow John get real

Mellenhead cracks me up, acts like he's the voice of the working class while he gets on his 40 million dollar jet

Bruce joined him onstage during the Lonesome Jubilee tour. (California) Irvine Amphitheater. I was there. A girl got on stage and practically knocked Bruce over trying to get her hands on John

Setting the bar pretty low cougar. 🤣

yea ok john

Sorry, but I saw him perform in Camden, NJ with John Fogarty when Fogarty restarted performing. Fogarty blew him away. When Fogarty finished, everyone said. Wow! Wouldn’t want to follow him. ….and truth was it took 😢Mellencamp at least 1/2 hour into his set before the crowd actually started warming up to him. No contest. Like I said, “Fogarty blew him Away”.

Everyone giving hate to Mellencamp is not the vibe. He’s a legend and a true musical genius, and he and Bruce are both legends of their time

My brother told me how he's seen Mellencamp more than once and the shows went on for many hours... Also, someone's gotta tell him about that hair whomp.

it's obvious he never shared a stage with Mick Jagger. Probably a good thing for John.

* Laughs in Lemmy Kilmister *

He played alongside Bob Dylan at DPAC a few years ago. Love John but he's got a big head

Still smoking Marlboro Reds, eh? Genius!

Don't smoke young folks!

Johnny's hair looks like he just took it out of the air fryer.

I never thought Mellencamp was particularly talented or entertaining. But it’s not important what I think, rather what he thinks.

Just listened to Chasing Rainbows. Love John,but those smokes destroyed a great voice.

Who ever did his hair should give him his money back,,,